OBDAM – A fourteen-year-old perpetrator arrested at the time for arson at FC Victoria – or, today, was sentenced to suspended juvenile detention and eighty hours of community service. He also has to pay 5,500 euros in compensation to the club. In addition to arson, the young perpetrator has also been held responsible for theft and assault.

The court found arson by 14-year-old Castricummer. On May 24, 2020, the big fire broke out at the Victoria-O football club in Obdam. At first it was thought that there was a short circuit, because the fire seemed to have broken out in the technical room.

But when two locals in Obam arrested a 14-year-old who tried to escape from the rooftops for an unknown reason, he admitted to setting the fire.

The boy set fire to the goal net with a lighter in the football club’s storage room. According to the football club president, damages amount to about 160,000 euros.

Personal circumstances

In addition to arson in the Football Association club, Castricummer was also guilty of stealing an old lady. He admitted stealing the key, but he stole the car, but the court did not prove it. It also hits a peer.

In the seriousness of the ruling, the court took into account, according to one expert, that the boy suffered from cannabis addiction and oppositional defiance disorder: the young offender felt excluded and now does not want to be excluded from a group. This makes him extremely vulnerable.

The boy remains attached to juvenile rehabilitation, and must cooperate with treatment at the Youth Welfare Institution as well as adhere to the curfew.

Take risks at the expense of the perpetrator

The football club canteen reopened in July Was built. This afternoon, the court decided to compensate 160,000 euros for the damages largely through insurance, leaving only a deductible 5,500 euros left open, which must be paid to the club.

“That was what we asked for and it seems only reasonable for us to pay the deductible,” said Sis Koning, president of Victoria O. The boy was not a member of the club itself, but he often came with friends from the village, as is the president. Moreover, he does not want to waste words: everything will be fine later. When the funds are deposited, that is the close and then it is all over. “